FIFA President Gianni Infantino Proposes 48-team World Cup

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Monday he would like to expand the number of teams in the World Cup to 48 by adding a one-match playoff at the tournament’s start.

The proposal will see a play-in round added three days before the current 32-team group stage. From that stage, the tournament would continue as usual.

Infantino confirmed that the proposal will be discussed at a FIFA council next week, before a final decision is taken in January 2017.

“The idea is that 16 teams would qualify directly to the group stage and the other 32 would play in a preliminary phase, in the country where the World Cup is being played – they would play for the remaining 16 places,” Infantino said.